Spain · Work authorisation

Teletrabajador de carácter internacional (international-teleworking visa and residence authorisation)

Issued by Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE-CE), Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones. It is checked against conditions rather than scored, so the question is whether you meet each one, not how many points you gather.

Basis
Checklist
Steps
4
Possible outcomes
3
Last checked
2026-08-09

Conditions

What this permit
asks of you.

Which desk decides

The authority, exactly

UGE-CE processes the application electronically; the decision itself is issued by the Dirección General de Migraciones (art. 76.1 Ley 14/2013).

Qualification

What it wants from your degree

Graduate or postgraduate standing from a university or business school of recognised prestige, an advanced vocational qualification, or at least three years of professional experience.

The procedure

4 steps,
in the order they happen.

Prepare your documents

  1. Confirm the company you work for or contract with has been genuinely and continuously active for at least one year, is established outside Spain, and can document that your role can be carried out remotely.If you work under an employment contract, that relationship with the non-Spain company must already have run for at least three months before you apply. If you work under a commercial/professional relationship instead, the same three-month minimum applies, and up to 20% of your total professional activity may be for a company located in Spain — an employee under this route may not work for a Spain-based company at all.
  2. Show your own resources are sufficient: at least 200% of the monthly SMI for yourself, plus 75% of the monthly SMI for the first family member joining you and 25% for each further one.At the 2026 SMI of €1,221/month (14 payments, Real Decreto 126/2026), 200% is €2,442/month, 75% is €915.75/month and 25% is €305.25/month. The percentages come from a joint ministry instruction dated 29 March 2023 — no later version was found for this file — so confirm they still apply before relying on them; the SMI itself is refreshed every year and should be checked independently of the percentage rule.

Get your qualification assessed

  1. If you are outside Spain, apply for the international-teleworking visa, valid for up to one year or for the length of the work engagement if shorter. The visa is itself sufficient title to reside and work remotely in Spain for its whole validity.Applications under this section are decided and notified within 10 business days, unless your case is subject to the prior consultation under art. 22 of the EU Visa Code, in which case that Code's own timeline applies instead.

Register and start working

  1. If you are already living in Spain lawfully, or once your visa is close to expiry, apply for the residence authorisation for international teleworking directly — up to 60 days before the visa expires — provided the conditions that generated the right are maintained.

Cost and time

What it costs,
and how long the authority says it takes.

Fees

UGE-CE authorisation fee (tasa, modelo 038)
Not published on the pages read for this file — confirm the current amount before applying
National visa (visado tipo D)
Set per consulate by nationality — confirm with the mission handling your case

Timeframes

Visa validity
Up to one year, or the length of the work engagement if shorter
Residence authorisation for international teleworking
Up to three years, or the length of the work engagement if shorter; renewable for two-year periods while the conditions are maintained
UGE-CE decision on the residence authorisation
Maximum 20 business days from the complete electronic application (art. 76.1). If not decided within that period, the authorisation is deemed granted by positive administrative silence.

Published processing times, not a prediction about your case.

Both halves together

Guides that use this permit.

Each one takes a profession into Spain and runs the recognition branch and the authorisation branch side by side, including what your country of qualification adds.

Evidence

Every claim on this page, and where it came from.

4 official pages, each with the jurisdiction it speaks for and the date a human last opened it. The oldest is 2026-08-09, and that is the date this page is only as fresh as.

Is this the right permit for you?

That depends on where you qualified.

The planner compares every route Spain opens to your country of qualification, and adds the recognition branch when your profession has one.

Check my path →All Spain permits